


A Father Gives

by Merfilly



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Canonical Character Death, Father Figures, Gen, Minor Canonical Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-19
Updated: 2016-06-19
Packaged: 2018-07-16 01:39:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,320
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7247032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Merfilly/pseuds/Merfilly
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A glimpse of Plo in the final decades of the Republic, and how he reaches out to his children.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Father Gives

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Father's Day. May you all be the kind of mentors that make life better, and I pray you all have known at least one being able to support you that way.

Plo Koon had a heavy heart as he went through the Temple, going to find the girl in need of comfort. He had come straightaway, not yet turning Micah's lightsaber to the Hall of Memories, as the living padawan had more need of him. 

He found her in the gardens, sitting in a tightly coiled version of meditation, and he weighed his actions carefully. She was facing away from him, but he would not be surprised if there were tears involved, giving the small shakes in those too tense shoulders. He walked over swiftly, then sat down beside her without even asking.

She flinched, but kept her face straight ahead.

"Padawan Bultar Swan, I wish you to know that Master Micah Giiett regretted the necessity of his actions that led to his inability to return to you," he said in a low voice. "He was my dear friend, child, and I know you must feel such pain to have the bond severed so suddenly."

"I should have been with him," Bultar whispered.

"I believe he anticipated this outcome, and did not wish you to be lost," Plo told her gently.

"A padawan's place is with their master," she said, shoulders shaking. "And to grieve—"

"Is to be a sentient being capable of emotion," Plo said, cutting off the platitude. "The wisdom is in learning to do as one must, and not let the grief shape your future actions in ways that betray the being you wish to honor."

That made her look up at him, eyes wide. "That is not how I learned such."

"The lessons of the Jedi are far more complex than the hard and fast words that are delivered rotely, Padawan Swan." He shifted his body language some, making it more open, as he saw the tears truly beginning to escape her control. She hesitated, then proved she was as adept at adapting as Micah had been, and gave herself to the comfort of being held. Her tears soaked into his garments, but he did not care. A child was in need, and he would not let her suffer.

* * *

Plo Koon had not intended to find himself ready to train another this soon. He'd come down to watch the Initiates seeking masters mostly out of curiosity. Now, however, watching the Trandoshan Initiate make a motion to strike the boy that had used a deceitful trick in their battle, he focused more closely. When she actually caught herself and moved to the side, defeated from the Grand Melee, he felt the tickle of pride and longing come on too strongly to ignore. With care, he made his way down to her.

"Calm, child, is what you must learn to be," Plo Koon said firmly as he stood beside the Trandoshan Initiate. "Is it something you are capable of doing?" His presence at her side had turned the girl to face him, and he could take in more of her presence, sensing great potential in the child.

Lissarkh kept her body squared as she faced the venerable Master from Kel Dor. "I am capable of doing all it takes to become a true Jedi," she said, radiating her intent and determination.

The filters on eyes and mouth prevented his smile from being seen, yet Plo Koon's pleasure in that answer rippled out to all the other Initiates and Jedi in the room. "Initiate Lissarkh, will you do me the honor of becoming my Padawan?" the Kel Dorian asked.

Lissarkh bowed her head, glad her reptilian features hid most signs of surprise from those present. "I am the one who is honored, and I accept." She felt him reach out to affix the silka beads to the head band she wore for that reason. She was not going to fail, and be relegated back to her homeworld, doomed to the savage lifestyle of a bounty hunter or slaver. Life was too precious, full of avenues to explore.

"We shall get your things, and move you to the padawan quarters in my suite," Plo Koon said, making her look up.

"Thank you, Master," she said, approximating a smile for him out of habit. His hand came to rest on her shoulder, guiding her back to the Hall of Initiates to help her with the move. He anticipated a quick apprenticeship, but also, a lifelong bond, for Lissarkh's need to be a Jedi was as strong as his own.

* * *

In the aftermath of such death and chaos, it was no surprise that Plo Koon chose to go walk among the young ones. His love of the little ones was well-known, as was his habit of adding to their numbers in his journeys. That thought came to mind as he saw the last orphan he had brought in, a Nikto that had been the sole survivor of an earthquake-ruined village. He had felt the infant's distress as he led the rescue efforts in that region, and brought her back to be tested, succored, and raised safely.

She was one more piece of his legacy among the Jedi. It felt good to know he had guided so many into the arms of the Jedi, so they could give of themselves to the Republic. 

He moved to check more closely on the youngest ones, then stopped as he saw one who was definitely too old for this part of the Temple, curled on her side under the Nikto's crib. The short headtail in blue and white rested against orange-tinted skin, identifying her sharply to the Master. Now, Plo grew concerned, the Geonosian carnage pushed far from his mind as he knelt down to reach out for the child on the floor.

Ahsoka twisted to see who was touching… and then her eyes went wide. She scrambled out from under the crib, the place that felt safe, and flung herself into his arms.

"You're safe; you're safe," she whispered, careful not to wake the sleeping babies, but she was clinging with all the strength in her slender arms.

"Oh little 'Soka, yes," he said, slowly rising with her cradled in his arms. "Why are you here with Teska, sleeping on the floor?"

Ahsoka snuffled a little against his shoulder. "Teska is like me. You brought her here. I wanted… wanted to be near her, as she is like my sister now." The great fear inside Ahsoka was hammering at him, something he did not associate as being a trait she was prone to. 

"I am here, and I am alive," he reassured her, feeling her body shake in the iron-strong grip she held on him. "But I should take you to your … no?" He had felt her shake her head fiercely at the mere idea of being separated. Togruta were a clan-driven people, and since becoming an Initiate, Ahsoka had struggled with learning to maintain her distance and separation from other members of her youngling Clan. It didn't help that she was younger, by far, than most of the other Initiates, in terms of species' maturity.

He hummed softly to her, and moved to the outer room of the nursery, settling in the padded chair there that rocked. Maybe it was un-Jedi, but indulging her need for comfort was soothing the jagged edges in his own heart for the death of so many, so quickly.

* * *

The members of the 104th were a staggering responsibility to take on, and yet Plo Koon looked on them all with fond care and pride. After so many daughters in recent years, it would be a challenge to learn these sons, yet Plo was ready to do so. He would learn their ways, find their needs to take care of, and do all he could to preserve them from the dangers coming.

Even if the chief son among them was skeptical and resisted these efforts.

Plo would be patient, and he would be there for them. In time, Wolffe would understand.


End file.
